Marie Adeline of France
'Marie Adeline '(b. 20 April) is the current Dowager Queen of France and the widow of the late King Louis XV. She is originally a princess of Great Britain, France's northern neighbour and a long rival of the Kingdom. Childhood Marie was born in London at Norfolk House. She was the grandson of King George II, and the daughter of Frederick, Prince of Wales, and Augusta of Saxe-Gotha. Marie grew into a healthy and opinionated child. The family moved to Leicester Square, where her younger brother George and her older brother Prince Edward, Duke of York and Albany, were educated together by private tutors. Marie's nanny against her instructions would also tutor Marie, she was taught to dance and sing as most ladies are but behind closed doors was also given a formal education like her brothers. Family letters show that she could read and write in both English and German liker her brother King George III. Personality Queen Marie was very compassionate towards her family, and extremely ostentatious. Throughout her life she held a witty vocabulary and was known to be very condescending. As well as this Marie was always complacent and proved to be very cunning in her fight to gain power. Appearance As a child Marie unlike her siblings was rather attractive, a trait not common in Hanover children. She maintained good looks and posture until a elderly age were she became less "good looking" and more "adorable". Marriage The first years of Marie Adeline's marriage to Louis XV were rough, however they became rougher as the latter became more turned towards adultery and fornication. Marie shockingly was still visited by her husband in her bedchambers which resulted in the birth of five children, however the mood was far from romantic. Although Marie and her husband became what could be regarded as 'distant friends' they never truly loved each other. Louis was fat and lazy - preferring to spend his time fulfilling his hobbies. Marie enjoyed ruling and overseeing the french population. It is believed Marie became close confidante to her husband until his death. King's Mistresses Queen Marie never chose to ignore what her husband got up to, she herself never took up a male lover due to her dedication to God. Marie in fact was quite close Jeanne-Antoinette Poisson, later Madame de Pompadour. The king’s previous mistresses had snubbed the Queen, but Pompadour realised that showing Marie respect eased Louis' guilt and provided her with a better place in court. Pompadour became one of the first mistresses the Queen actually approved of, although this is wildly believed to be due to the influence over Pompadour the Queen had. They both enjoyed fine arts and the Queen is recorded to have invited Pompadour to inspect a painting she planned to hang in Apollo Salon. Two mistresses stand out beside Pompadour due to the Queen's hatred of them, the first being Marie Anne de Mailly. In 1726, Marie Anne's oldest sister, Louise Julie, wed her cousin, Louis Alexandre de Mailly, comte de Mailly. Shortly thereafter she caught the attention of King Louis XV, and was permitted by her husband to become a royal mistress. Although she became the king's mistress in 1732, Madame de Mailly was not officially recognized as his maîtresse en titre until 1738. Louise Julie did not use her new position at court to enrich herself or to interfere in politics. In 1738, she received a letter from her younger sister Pauline-Félicité requesting to be invited to court. Louise Julie granted her sister's wish, but upon her arrival at court, Pauline-Félicité seduced the king and became his mistress. Queen Marie was disgusted by Pauline, she gave the duty to Philomene Towesse, her first lady in waiting to ensure that she was never able to gain influence in court. Lady Towesse would change the dates on invitations that were sent to Pauline and even send her carriage to the wrong places. This overall resulted in Pauline bursting into the Queen's chambers at Versailles demanding to "See the bitch!". The Queen whom was sat having tea with a close friend didn't even look at her or acknowledge her presence. She was carried out by guards and thrown out of Versailles. However the one the Queen is said to have hated the most was Madame du Barry, who the Queen is said to have bitterly hated. Marie's ladies in waiting would go to extremes to keep Du Barry as far away from the Queen as possible. The King would often get mad with Marie when she would not discipline her ladies in waiting for playing tricks on her. Upon the fading health of her husband, Marie advised King Louis XV to send her away so that he could be spiritually cleansed. Du Barry's coach left and the Queen was seen at the balcony watching her leave. Her carriage never reached its destination and Madame Du Barry vanished, never to be seen again. Life at court Marie's arrival at court was not a welcome one; the French court wasn't particularly fond of having a English Queen and Marie didn't really hide her hatred of becoming it. She was married to Louis XV of France not long after and gradually got use to court life. The French court began to loathe Marie as she became more and more influential. She became the first female to have a seat on the Conseil d'État (Council of State) in 1724 with the birth of her first son. By 1735 it was believed Marie was running the country from the Conseil d'Etat; this resulted in court becoming more forgiving to her origins. Marie went on to give birth to another five more children, allocating as much time with them as she could. All her daughters were given the usual princess teaching other than her eldest daughter whom like herself was privately educated behind closed doors to the same degree of her brothers. Her life became stable after her grip on court became tight, her fashion iconic and influence over the Conseil d'Etat grew. However in 1767 her husband passed away, although believed never to have felt anything other than friendship for him Marie was distraught and remained in mourning for some time. During her sons reign Marie never truly let go of her grip over court, she maintained her position over the council and remained by her sons side. With him being such a young age Marie remained at the court of France and guided her son during his first years as King. Once of age to rule alone he moved court to the Chateau of Choisy; Marie remained at Versailles alone for a few years and then retreated to the Chateau of Cleamonti on the coast of France, following another three years she returned to Court at the Chateau of Choisy. Once again Marie resumed her position on council and returned to her sons side. Titles * ''Her Royal Highness ''The Duchess of Kent and Strathearn * ''Her Majesty ''The Queen * ''Her Majesty ''The Dowager Queen Category:Individuals Category:British individuals